The Legion of Super Heroes (v5) #9 - Untitled!

Released August 24, 2005

DC Comics, Color
31 Pages

Mark Waid & Barry Kitson - Plot
Mark Waid - Dialogue
Georges Jeanty - Penciller
Art Thibert - Inks
Sno Cone - Colors
Stephen Wacker - Editor

Synopsis

Picking up the pieces from the core Legion's personnel rift, the schism spreads to the crowd of young Legion supporters in the plaza.  Two kids begin to come to blows when Lyle steps in to cool it down, but they turn on him as one of the catalysts of the fallout. Lyle goes to try and stop Cos from leaving but is too late.

Meanwhile Cos is at the transport hub getting ready to leave to Braal, talking to Pol about the situation. Saturn Girl meets with her mother, the Titanian representative on Earth, who tells Imra about more worlds leaving the UP. Imra tries to warn about Lemnos but is lectured about passion while sending that information to Garth telepathically. 

Garth and Luornu are strategizing when Lyle comes in with a suggestion, but is derided by Luornu. Ultra Boy walks in, apparently trying to bury the hatchet with Garth. The real Jo flies in and takes down Cham (who the first Jo was) and freaks out at him for trying to apologize on his behalf. Garth gets angry with both of them, and Cham gets really mad saying he's just trying to help. Jo starts to storm off but Lyle has made a discovery that could help the effort against Terra Firma. 

Brainiac 5 is on the hot mining world of Helegyn. It's under attack and the existing forces are in retreat. Shadow Lass calls him and he asks for several Legionnaires with the exception of Lightning Lad. Also on Helegyn, Elysion and Lemnos confer about the plans to terraform Helegyn when the Legion team emerges from a portal. Invisible Kid tries to tag along but is rudely shoved back by Jo. He wanted to tell Brainy that three worlds will stop the coming war. 

At the terminal, there is live coverage of the fighting on Helegyn, Cos tries to get in touch with the team. A crowd of Legion youths has gathered around Cos who also have to go back home. Cos starts to give a speech about not giving ground, calling people by name in the crowd, about how they've sacrificed a lot already. Its a great speech, but it doesn't convince everyone and several folks leave for their homes.  

Cos walks to the portal to Braal, but is shocked to see he's been transported to Helegyn; Invisible kid reset the portal and follows him through. 

At the Krinn home, an empty chair sits at the dinner table as Pol is glared at by his parents.

Commentary

This untitled (even on the cover) story is a dense issue where a lot happens to wind up the rest of the plot for the next few issues.  We have a guest art team that isn't quite as consistently excellent from panel to panel, but still pretty good generally. There are a few moments where the art takes me out of the read - for example, there is a scene where Triplicate Girl reintegrates in the background and it looks like two of them are diagonally jumping behind the third - that detract a bit. Three storylines here eventually wind up together in Cosmic Boy de/reconstructing his reason for being in the Legion, and with Invisible Kid's help, finds his way back.  Lu stating that Invisible Kid knows how to proactively defeat Terra Firma is a cool hook.

The big problem with this story to me, again, is Ultra Boy. So the Legion has been around for two years, him probably for at least half that time, and he's just now getting to this point?  The guy is written as a super powered toddler.  Why has no one fired this jerk? While yes, Cham was definitely in the wrong for doing what he did, he was at least *trying* to keep people together.  Its certainly an interesting enough plot point for me to focus on this issue, but for all the wrong reasons, I think. Another interesting element to me was when Cos finishes his big inspirational speech in the terminal, a bunch of the kids literally say, "Whatever." Well, clearly there is something of a problem here, and again a world that I'm not sure I care for, as its inhabitants are much to close for that of our own reality for my liking. 

Cos' reminiscing scene seems to show several other Legionnaires - namely Catspaw and Ferro Lad. 

This also has another illustrated Waid/Kitson letter column starring Light Lass and Star Boy. Star Boy obsesses over Starman, and Ayla talks about tryouts - Flight rings are REALLLY expensive, so unless you are special you don't get one which segues into yet another explanation of the Legion's movement. This is kind of a problem to me - its the second time they've had to explain this world this way, which tells me that there is something fundamentally wrong in either the world you've created or the writing. And Waid's writing is pretty damn good.

There is also a response to the scene where Triplicate Girl suckered Sun Boy, Ultra Boy and Element Lad into a triple date of sorts with the implication that the scene was homophobic. So we get hit over the head yet again on how Ayla seems to be biblically familiar with all the guys.  Seriously, is it like part of the initiation for the guys on this team? Yeah, yeah - TEEN HORMONES!!! - But I think I'd appreciate a scoche more subtlety here. I think the main problem I'm having is that Waid writes all his teens here as experts in sex, for characterization or titillation I can't decide, but without writing any of the team as insecure or trying to figure it out, which is the REAL story of MOST teens. 

Ayla also says the Legion wrote the book on tolerance.  Honey, the Legion may have written the book on tolerance - but it wasn't THIS Legion. You're looking for the one ten years prior. 

The lettercol ends with a cute joke about reboots. 

Grade B-.